Maybe You Should Be Less Accommodating and More Strong

Joe Biden does his best Neville Chamberlin.

Biden: I’m Working To Find ‘Any Accommodations’ I Can For Russia So They Don’t Invade Ukraine | The Daily Wire

He starts out strong:

“In the meeting with Putin, I was very straightforward. There were no minced words,” Biden claimed. “It was polite, but I made it very clear: If, in fact, he invades Ukraine, there will be severe consequences — severe consequences — and economic consequences like none he’s ever seen or ever have been seen, in terms of being imposed.”

“His immediate response was he understood that. And I indicated that I knew he would respond. But beyond that, if, in fact, we would probably also be required to reinforce our — our presence in NATO countries to reassure particularly those on the eastern front,” he added. “In addition to that, I made it clear that we would provide the defensive capability to the Ukrainians as well.”

But then he fades:

Biden said that he would not put U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine to stop a Russian invasion of the country, saying, “that is not on the table.”

“We have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO Allies, if they were to attack under Article Five. It’s a sacred obligation,” Biden added. “That obligation does not extend to NATO — I mean, to Ukraine. But it would depend upon what the rest of the NATO countries are willing to do as well. But the idea the United States is going to unilaterally use force to confront Russia from invading Ukraine is not on — in the cards right now. But what will happen is: There will be severe consequences.”

Putin respects strength. A show of strength and determination will force him to back down. Threatening to take his candy away isn’t going to do anything.

I’m Sure That Russia and China Are Very Happy With Biden

Every country acts in their own best interest. For most of them, a weaker America is in their best interest. That is not generally in America’s best interest or typically the world’s either.

So, pardon me for not giving a flying fig what the world thinks of Biden.

Former Obama Official: Poll Says Foreign Countries Happy With Biden. Crenshaw: ‘Did Y’all Poll Kabul?’ | The Daily Wire

Did y’all poll Kabul? https://t.co/5MwH49NJxv

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) December 8, 2021

Skipping over Crenshaw’s valid point, I question the word “happily” in the tweet he’s responding to.

As I said, I don’t give a flying fig what other countries think of our leaders. In fact, if I had to choose, I would prefer they dislike them. The means that our leaders are acting in our own country’s best interests and not the interests of others.

Anyway, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX-02) is exactly right. I doubt a poll of Afghanistan would show the same results.

“Disastrous Foreign Policy Record” Is Putting It Kindly

WATCH: Psaki Gets Grilled By NBC News Over Biden’s Disastrous Foreign Policy Record | The Daily Wire

“The withdrawal from Afghanistan over the summer was widely criticized,” NBC News’ Kristen Welker said. “There are increasing tensions with China and Taiwan, and now you have Russian troops amassing on the border with Ukraine. Candidate Biden campaigned on a pledge to restore America’s credibility on the world stage on his foreign policy experience. Is he living up to that pledge?”

“Well, Kristen, he also campaigned on a promise to bring an end to a 20-year war that should have ended 10 years ago and to bring our troops home, and not to send another son, grandson, granddaughter, or daughter into a war that the Afghans aren’t willing to fight themselves,” Psaki snapped back, ignoring that tens of thousands of Afghan nationals died in the fight for their country. “He also pledged to stand up for democracy and pledged to stand up for countries like Ukraine and their territorial integrity. And that’s something that he is standing up for and vocally doing now, and raising concerns he has about the bellicose rhetoric and the military buildup.”

That’s a long list of things that Biden “pledged to stand up for”. And if he was keeping those pledges, he wouldn’t have a “disastrous foreign policy record”.

Wait, Why Are We Evacuating From Ukraine?

After Botched Afghanistan Evacuation, Biden Making Contingency Plans To Evacuate Americans From Ukraine | The Daily Wire

Fresh from the debacle of withdrawing from Afghanistan, where American citizens were left behind in the chaos from the Biden administration’s pullout, a report has emanated that the Biden administration, led by the Pentagon, is making plans to evacuate Americans from Ukraine if needed should the Russians invade their western neighbor. One source told CNN that the Biden administration does not want to be caught “flat-footed” if the Russians invade.

Here’s a thought.

Maybe show some strength and the Russians won’t invade. Then no need to evacuate.

What a pathetically weak administration we have. Clueless Joe is the laughingstock of the world.

You think Putin would be doing this if The Donald were still President? You think China would be openly mocking America?

Pfft.

CNN quoted sources saying that the Pentagon is considering various options, from an evacuation of nonessential US government employees to an evacuation that would also include other American citizens. The decision as to whether to evacuate would be left to the State Department. “Right now some planning is underway by the State Department’s diplomatic security for either an authorized or ordered departure of diplomats from the country should the situation warrant it, a source familiar with the discussions said,” CNN reported.

Gah. What an embarrassment.

This Is Clear Evidence That Putin Feels We Have a Weak President

Report: Russia is Planning a Military Offensive Against Ukraine – PJ Media

Now, the Washington Post is reporting specifics of the buildup of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine, identifying four areas of troop concentrations and the potential for Moscow to mass up to 175,000 troops for an offensive that could come as soon as early 2022.

The unclassified U.S. intelligence document obtained by The Post, which includes satellite photos, shows Russian forces massing in four locations. Currently, 50 battlefield tactical groups are deployed, along with “newly arrived” tanks and artillery, according to the document.

While Ukrainian assessments have said Russia has approximately 94,000 troops near the border, the U.S. map puts the number at 70,000 — but it predicts a buildup to as many as 175,000 and describes extensive movement of battalion tactical groups to and from the border “to obfuscate intentions and to create uncertainty.”

Russia has also called up tens of thousands of reservists and its rhetoric toward Ukraine has become increasingly belligerent. This is either one of the biggest military deception operations since World War II, or Putin is deadly serious.

I don’t think it’s a deception. I do think it’s a test. And so far our President is failing miserably. Not surprising. He’s failed miserably at his job from day one.

Three more years of this crap. Ugh.

Liberal Media Is Never Wrong, It’s Just ”Fake but Accurate”

We learned that in 2004, with CBS’s fake National Guard story on George W. Bush. It continues today.

Why No Media 'Reckoning' Over Phony Steele Dossier? (dailysignal.com)

Because they can’t admit they were wrong. That would mean that they faked an entire set of stories just to damage a President they didn’t like. Admitting that would destroy what remains of their reputation. Better to just stay silent on the issue, and those that only follow them will never know what happened.

Axios says there’s a “reckoning” in the media over coverage of the Steele dossier after the partisan oppo document’s primary source was charged with lying to the FBI.

“It’s one of the most egregious journalistic errors in modern history,” writes Sara Fischer, “and the media’s response to its own mistakes has so far been tepid.”

Tepid is a nice way of putting it.

While The Washington Post “corrected” some of its discredited reporting on the dossier, removing portions of reporting connecting former President Donald Trump to Russia, there has been virtually no other accountability. And, really, it’s become modus operandi for the news organizations to “correct” stories in which the entire premise is false.

Any sort of “reckoning” would mean a retraction, followed by investigative deep dives, not only reporting the problems with the story themselves, but also outing the fraudulent sources who participated in the deception.

If any of that is happening, it’s just so they can figure out how to not get caught next time. They aren’t upset over their stories. They’re upset they got caught fabricating them.

And Now the Gaslighting Begins on the Russia Hoax

Russia hoax whitewash era begins | Power Line (powerlineblog.com)

They’re going to try to make us believe they haven’t been lying to us for the last four years.

They Need to Retract the Entire Series

WaPo Issues Major Corrections To Reports On Steele Dossier | The Daily Wire

The Post rewrote parts of stories published in March 2017 and February 2019, removing claims in the stories that the Steele dossier’s “Source D,” who is responsible for some of the most salacious and outrageous claims in the document, is Belarusian American businessman Sergei Millian.

“The newspaper’s executive editor, Sally Buzbee, said The Post could no longer stand by the accuracy of those elements of the story,” the Washington Post reported, in a separate story on the changes it made. “The story’s headline was amended, sections identifying Millian as the source were removed, and an accompanying video summarizing the article was eliminated. An editor’s note explaining the changes was added. Other stories that made the same assertion were corrected as well.”

“The Post’s decision to edit and repost the Millian stories is highly unusual in the news industry,” the Post added.

Durham’s indictments have made these stories unsupportable. But don’t worry. They’ll stick with them as long as they can. And it doesn’t matter now, anyway. The stories accomplished their purpose, which was to hinder and weaken President Donald Trump (R-USA). And the corrections won’t get much publicity. People will continue to think that Trump colluded with the Russians.

This Matters Because They Used This False Story to Delegitimize and Weaken a President

And it worked too. Without the ongoing drumbeat of “Russia! Russia! Russia!”, Trump may have been re-elected.

Democrats spent years lying about “Russian collusion” when they were *actually* colluding with a Russian analyst.

Can’t make this stuff up. https://t.co/StP0FZqlO6

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 4, 2021

I’ll have more on this in the coming days. Power Line Blog has for years called this the worst political scandal in American history. And they may be right.

Durham Investigation Keeps Netting Little Fish, but They’re Getting Bigger

This one has huge implications.

Althouse: "Igor Danchenko, a Russia analyst who worked with Christopher Steele, the author of a dossier of rumors and unproven assertions about Donald J. Trump, was taken into custody as part of the Durham investigation."

Dangchenko was Steele’s source. This taints the entire Steele Dossier and those who funded it.

The NYT reports.

Some claims from the Steele dossier made their way into an F.B.I. wiretap application targeting a former Trump campaign adviser in October 2016. Other portions of it — particularly a salacious claim about a purported sex tape — caused a political and media firestorm when Buzzfeed published the materials in January 2017, shortly before Mr. Trump was sworn in....F.B.I. agents interviewed Mr. Danchenko in 2017 when they were seeking to run down the claims in the dossier....

Mr. Steele’s efforts were part of opposition research that Democrats were indirectly funding by the time the 2016 general election took shape. Mr. Steele’s business intelligence firm was a subcontractor to another research firm, Fusion GPS, which in turn had been hired by the Perkins Coie law firm, which was working for the Hillary Clinton campaign.

More on this in the days to come. I imagine this arrest has made some people in Washington, D.C. very nervous.

This is still a somewhat little fish. The news of it made The New York Times, but you can be certain they won’t spend much effort on analysis of the broader implications. But it clearly shows that Durham is still working and making real progress.

I Bet Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Is Glad Apple and Google Weren't a Thing When He Was a Political Prisoner

Supporters of the imprisoned de-facto Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have accused Google and Apple of political censorship for deleting his tactical voting app, after caving to pressure from the government. The Russian government threatened to take action if the app was not deleted.

In the days leading up to the parliamentary elections, the Russian government pressured Apple and Google to remove the Navalny Smart Voting initiative app, which focuses on convincing people to vote for opponents of the ruling party. The government accused the tech giants of election interference.

Well, it’s Russia, so what can you expect? But two American companies had no trouble giving in to this demand and trampling all over freedom of speech. That’s pathetic.